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THE  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETINS 

NUMBER  III 


BRIDGING  THE   GAP 


THE  TRANSFER  CLASS 


bV 


FRANK  WATSON  WRIGHT 

StrPERINTENDENT  OP  SCHOOLS,  XJNIONTOWN,  PA. 


L 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 

APRIL,  1915 


PREFATORY   NOTE 

This  statistical  study  of  Transfer  Classes  in  the  Newton  schools 
deals  with  three  distinct  groups  of  pupils,  viz.:  the  class  of  191 2 
of  the  Newton  High  School;  Certificate  (Transfer)  Classes,  with 
immediate  entrance  to  the  Newton  High  School,  in  the  years 
1906-07-08-09;  and  the  Transfer  Classes,  requiring  one  or  two 
years  to  complete  the  work  for  the  grammar  school  diploma,  in 
the  Technical  High  School  for  1910.  It  is  upon  the  results  of 
this  statistical  study,  upon  such  opinions  as  were  secured  from 
those  in  charge  of  the  plan,  and  upon  the  place  that  the  plan 
takes  in  a  school  system  which  strives  to  serve  the  needs  of  all 
its  pupils  from  five  to  eighteen  years  of  age  that  the  conclusions 
reached  concerning  the  efficacy  of  Transfer  Classes  are  based. 

In  preparing  the  section  of  the  investigation  dealing  with  the 
Transfer  Classes  in  the  Technical  High  School,  interesting  studies 
by  Miss  Mary  A.  Laselle  and  Mr.  C.  W.  Waldron  (teachers  in 
charge  of  such  classes)  were  freely  drawn  upon. 

F.  W.  Wright. 


THE 
HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETINS 

Number  III 

BRIDGING  THE   GAP 

TRANSFER   CLASSES  IN  THE  NEWTON  SCHOOLS 


Place  and  Purpose  of  Transfer  Classes 

The  policy  represented  by  the  "  Transfer  Classes  "  in  the  pub- 
lic school  system  of  Newton,  Massachusetts  is  well  stated  in  the 
following  paragraphs  from  the  report  of  Superintendent  F.  E. 
Spaulding  for  191 2:  — 

The  Newton  schools  are  trying  to  educate  all  boys  and  girls  in  the  city 
from  about  four  or  five  to  about  eighteen  years  of  age;  the  schools  are  trying 
to  educate  every  one  of  these  children  and  youth  with  individual  discrimina- 
tion, that  is,  to  develop  the  natural  capacity  of  each  so  that  he  will  be  able 
and  disposed  to  render  the  largest  possible  service  to  society  —  throughout 
his  life  beyond  the  school. 

We  are  convinced  of  the  supreme  educative  importance  of  the  period  from 
fourteen  to  eighteen,  and  we  are  planning  and  striving  most  earnestly  to 
hold  boys  and  girls  in  school  through  this  period. 

This  is  the  dominant  note  in  the  administrative  policy  of  the 
Newton  schools.  In  it  we  j&nd  the  reason  for  the  Transfer  Classes. 
One  recognizes  herein  not  only  the  policy  of  a  single  progressive 
school  system,  but  a  policy  that  is  becoming  more  and  more  pro- 
nounced in  progressive  school  administration  the  country  over. 
This  poKcy  is  the  subordination  of  fixed  curricula  and  arbitrary 
standards  to  the  varying  needs  and  abihties  of  the  pupils  in  the 
schools. 

To  be  sure,  this  policy  is  subject  to  the  unfavorable  criticism  of 
those  who  still  believe  that  a  high  percentage  of  failure  to  reach  a 
fixed  standard  of  ability,  through  a  more  or  less  prescribed  and 
formal  course  of  study,  is  at  once  an  indication  of  strength  in  the 
school,  and  an  evidence  of  weakness  in  those  who  fail.     But  such 


^'.Ni" 


JfARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


persons  seem  to  be  unaware  of  the  remarkable  change  that  has 
come  over  both  the  curriculum  and  the  method  of  administering 
it;  they  do  not  see  that  too  many  students  fail,  not  so  much  on 
account  of  lack  of  ability,  as  from  lack  of  adaptability  to  the  for- 
mal requirements  the  schools  have  set  up.  And  they  do  not  seem 
to  realize  the  significance  of  failure  to  pupils  at  the  age  when  a 
Transfer  Class  would  provide  some  means  of  carrying  them  for- 
ward to  a  newer,  and,  for  them,  more  rational  plan  of  work. 
Adolescent  failure  is  both  pointed  in  its  immediate  effects,  and 
permanent  in  its  ultimate  influence  upon  the  life  of  the  pupil  who 
acquires  the  habit  of  facing  it. 

In  addition  to  the  personal  effects  of  failure  in  advancement  to 
the  high  school,  or  after  pupils  have  once  gained  the  coveted  honor 
of  regular  promotion,  we  have  to  reckon  with  the  feeling  on  the 
part  of  the  pubKc  that  our  secondary  schools  have  not  yet  justi- 
fied the  great  expense  at  which  they  are  maintained.  If  we  set  up 
an  arbitrary  standard  which  is  to  act  as  a  barrier  to  many,  we 
shall  have  difficulty  in  defending  the  problem  of  elimination  that 
presents  itself,  both  at  the  portals  and  within  the  high  school. 
People  are  coming  to  see  that  the  high  school  is  getting  too  few 
and  losing  too  many  of  the  pupils. 

Many  discussions,  largely  academic,  have  taken  place  on 
"  bridging  the  gap  ";  many  plans  have  been  suggested,  and  some 
tried,  for  retaining  the  weak  pupils  in  the  high  school;  but  in  the 
Special  Transfer  Classes  of  the  Newton  High  Schools  we  have  not 
only  a  means  of  "  bridging  the  gap  "  —  or  we  might  better  say 
the  chasm  which  separates  the  elementary  and  the  secondary 
school  for  the  over-age  or  retarded  pupil  —  but  we  have,  also,  a 
special  method  of  providing  for  his  pecuHar  needs  after  he  has 
been  transferred  to  the  high  school. 

II 

We  now  turn  to  a  brief  sketch  of  the  development  of  these 
classes  in  the  Newton  schools. 

In  1906,  in  the  various  districts  of  the  City  of  Newton,  two 
kinds  of  diploma  were  given  to  the  graduates  of  the  grammar 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  7 

schools;  first,  a  diploma  of  graduation  which  did  not  admit  to  the 
high  school;  and,  second,  a  diploma  with  special  recommenda- 
tion, which  did  admit  to  the  high  school  without  examination. 
Later,  all  grammar  school  diplomas  admitted  to  the  high  school, 
together  with  the  plan  —  and  here  begins  the  transfer  idea  in  its 
most  conservative  form  —  of  making  all  "  slow  pupils  ''  the  sub- 
ject of  special  investigation  by  a  committee  —  this  committee  to 
be  composed  of  the  Superintendent  of  Schools,  the  principal  of 
the  grammar  school,  the  teacher  of  the  pupil,  and  the  principal  of 
the  high  school.  The  committee  set  one  question  before  itself 
in  taking  up  each  case :  Assuming  that  this  pupil  is  going  to  school 
next  year,  where  will  he  profit  most  ?  If  the  pupil  was  over-age, 
the  decision  usually  admitted  him  to  the  high  school. 

As  a  result  of  the  foregoing  practice  the  following  rule  of  the 
School  Committee  made  Transfer  Classes  a  recognized  part  of  the 
administration  of  the  schools: 

Certain  pupils  who  have  spent  a  year  or  more  in  the  eighth  grade,  but 
whose  standing  is  not  fully  up  to  the  prescribed  standard  for  section  four  (a 
general  average  of  C,  not  below  D  in  arithmetic,  language,  and  grammar,  and 
not  below  E  in  any  subject)  may  be  admitted  to  the  high  school  without 
examination. 

For  the  purpose  of  determining  what  pupils  may  be  so  admitted,  a  com- 
mittee consisting  of  a  grammar  school  principal  (acting  only  when  pupils 
from  his  school  are  under  consideration),  the  principal  of  the  high  school, and 
the  superintendent,  shall  consider  individually,  during  the  last  quarter  of  the 
eighth  year,  all  pupils  whose  ranking  falls  below  the  standard  for  regular 
promotion.  This  committee  shall  decide  each  case  on  its  merits,  the  main 
consideration  being  the  welfare  of  the  pupil.  This  committee  shall  deter- 
mine also  the  conditions  under  which  each  such  pupil  may  be  admitted  to  the 
high  schools,  including  the  courses  therein  which  he  may  enter  without 
examination,  and  the  number  of  periods  per  week  which  he  may  carry. 

All  pupils  admitted  to  the  high  schools  under  Section  8  may  graduate 
from  the  grammar  school  with  their  class,  and  shall  receive  a  formal  certifi- 
cate stating  what  they  have  done. 

And  in  addition,  for  convenience,  these  pupils  shall  receive  cards,  signed 
by  the  grammar  school  principal,  stating  the  conditions  on  which  they  are 
entitled  to  admission  to  the  high  school,  in  accordance  with  section  8.  — 
Rules  oj  Newton  School  Committee,  Sections  8  and  9. 

We  must  here  note  that  the  first  transfers  were  made  on  cer- 
tificate to  the  Newton  High  School  —  then  the  only  secondary 


8  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

school  in  the  city  —  and  that  they  were  made  only  from  the  over- 
age pupils.  No  special  provision  was  made  for  these  pupils;  they 
were  obliged  to  fit  into  the  regular  curriculum  of  the  high  school, 
and  to  carry  the  work  in  competition  with  pupils  who  had  received 
regular  promotion.  How  well  they  were  able  to  do  this  will  be 
seen  in  the  section  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  grades  for  these 
pupils. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Technical  High  School,  the  interest  in 
Transfer  Classes  shifts  in  September,  1910,  to  this  school,  al- 
though a  few  transfers  were  made  to  the  Newton  High  School 
subsequent  to  this  time.  That  the  poUcy  had  succeeded  under 
the  most  exacting  conditions  in  the  Newton  High  School  will  be 
seen  both  in  the  study  of  grades,  and  in  the  following  from  the 
annual  address  of  Superintendent  Spaulding  for  1910,  which  may 
be  regarded  both  as  a  recognition 'of  the  value  of  the  policy  and 
a  determination  to  push  it  farther  as  an  administrative  principle : 

A  Significant  Innovation 

Of  the  considerable  number  of  innovations  which  have  been  introduced 
into  the  administration  and  organization  of  our  schools  during  quite  recent 
years,  few  are  more  significant  than  the  transfer  this  September,  (1910)  from 
the  grammar  schools  to  this  Technical  High  School  of  certain  pupils  who 
had  earned  neither  diploma  nor  formal  certificate  of  admission,  who  had  not 
even  gone  through  the  minimum  requirements  of  the  grammar  school  course. 
Anyone  familiar  with  and  sympathizing  with  the  jealous  watch  set  almost 
universally  over  the  entering  portals  of  all  high  schools  laying  any  warrantable 
claim  to  excellence,  will  at  once  recognize  in  this  a  quite  unusual,  if  not  an 
unparalleled,  proceeding.  Admit  pupils  to  the  associations,  the  standing  and 
the  advantages  of  a  high  school  because  they  are  fifteen  years  of  age!  What 
more  startling,  revolutionary  proposition  would  it  be  possible  to  make  to 
anyone  accustomed  to  see  in  arbitrary,  scholastic  standards  the  very  foun- 
dations of  every  high  school  worthy  the  name  ?  Yet  we  have  not  merely 
made  this  proposition;  we  have  already  put  it  into  effect. 

Let  us  see  just  what  we  have  done  in  this  matter  and  why;  for  it  is  a 
matter  not  merely  typical,  strikingly  typical,  of  our  practical  determination 
to  reverse  the  usual  relation  and  make  our  organization  and  all  our  efforts 
serve  the  evident  needs  of  all  our  children,  it  is  a  matter  in  which  we  all  have 
direct  concern,  a  matter  growing  out  of  conditions  for  which  every  one  of  us 
is  in  some  measure  responsible.  From  the  grammar  schools  throughout  the 
city  we  have  transferred  to  this  Technical  High  School  about  seventy-five 
pupils,  three  groups,  two  of  girls  and  one  of  boys.     The  main  considerations 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  9 

on  which  a  transfer  was  made  were  these:  the  pupil  would  be  at  least  fifteen 
years  of  age  this  September  —  many  of  them  are  considerably  more  than 
that;  he  had  done  work  of  the  eighth  grade  last  year,  though  he  had  not 
necessarily  met  the  regular  standards  or  completed  the  work  of  that  grade; 
in  the  usual  course  of  events,  he  was  not  likely  to  continue  in  any  school  more 
than  a  year  or  two. 

It  is  confidently  believed  that  these  conditions  can  be  better  met,  that 
much  more  can  be  done  for  these  pupils  in  this  high  school  than  it  would  be 
possible  to  do  for  them  in  the  grammar  schools.  And  they  are  here.  True, 
they  are  not  pursuing  a  classical,  a  scientific,  or  even  a  conventional,  general 
course.  They  are  doing  far  better;  they  are  pursuing  a  course  made  for 
them.     It  is  a  high  school  course,  and  they  are  high  school  pupils! 

It  Depends  Upon  Our  Will 

Evidently  here  is  a  very  practical  problem,  a  universal  and  omnipresent 
problem,  which  we  must  study  and  solve,  as  it  were  together,  and  at  the 
same  time  alone,  each  one  in  his  turn.  The  one  definite  suggestion  which  I 
will  make  at  this  time,  is  this.  Each  one  of  you  is  capable  of  turning  during 
this  year  every  one  of  her  pupils,  who  is  not  actually  defective,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  regular  admission  to  high  school,  no  matter  how  far  the  candidacy  for 
a  special  transfer  has  progressed;  I  am  confident  that  this  is  fully  within 
your  power  if  you  are  a  teacher  below  the  eighth  grade.  How  ?  Just  do  it; 
that  is  the  best  direction  that  can  be  given  without  going  into  details  that 
would  be  out  of  place  here.  This  suggests  that  the  matter  is  primarily  a 
question  of  your  will,  of  your  determination. 

I  am  not  making  a  statement  now  that  is  only  theoretically  true,  but 
practically  barren.  This  statement,  which  is  well-considered,  seems  to  me 
justified  by  abundant  observation.  There  are  teachers  in  every  grade  in  this 
city  —  would  that  their  numbers  were  multiplied  —  who  will  take  any  rea- 
sonable sized  class  of  children,  in  which  are  the  usual  number  of  derelicts, 
and  bring  them  all  on  at  the  end  of  the  year,  or  earlier,  into  the  work  of  the 
next  grade,  each  one  growing  in  self-direction  and  self-control,  developing 
mind  and  character,  every  one  on  the  road  to  success.  There  are  other 
teachers  in  this  city  —  I  fear  there  are  some  in  every  grade  —  who  seldom 
rescue  any  of  the  little  pupil  derehcts  whom  they  receive  from  the  grade 
below,  who  even  allow  the  number  of  such  unfortunates  to  increase  under 
their  very  eyes. 

Now,  the  most  fundamental  difference  which  I  have  been  able  to  discover 
between  these  two  types  of  teachers  is  this:  The  one  determines,  or  rather, 
is  in  an  habitual  state  of  determination,  that  every  pupil  placed  under  her 
charge  can  and  shall  apply  himself  energetically  to  the  tasks  assigned  him; 
and  she  is  as  confident  as  she  is  determined,  confident  that  every  pupil  will 
master  those  tasks.  The  other  is  convinced  from  the  first  day  that  she  has 
pupils  assigned  to  her  who  are  unfit  for  her  grade,  who  are  quite  incapable  of 
doing  the  work  of  her  grade;  she  has  had  just  such  pupils  before;  she  was 
never  able  to  send  them  on  to  the  next  grade  adequately  prepared;  and  she 


lo  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

is  quite  sure  that  nobody  could  make  good  students  out  of  such  hopeless 
material. 

As  we  make  these  observations,  we  are  forced  to  conclude  that  the  habit 
of  failure,  and  the  twin  habit  of  expecting  but  a  moderate  degree  of  success, 
are  habits  not  confined  to  the  children  we  teach.  And  we  reflect  on  the 
strength  of  example  in  comparison  with  mere  precept.  And  we  leave 
further  reflection  and  appropriate  action  to  each  one  who  may  feel  concerned 
in  this  matter. 

How  far  the  above  conception  of  the  possibilities  of  Transfer 
Classes  in  saving  children  to  the  school  for  further  training 
may  be  realized  in  practice  will  be  seen  in  the  later  discussion 
of  typical  classes  of  boys  and  girls.  For  the  present  it  is  well 
to  keep  in  mind  the  statement:  "A  little  deficiency  in  knowl- 
edge of  arithmetic,  grammar,  geography,  and  other  elementary 
school  subjects  is  not  in  itself  a  matter  of  great  moment  when 
considered  from  the  standpoint  of  the  pupil's  efficient  develop- 
ment." Here  we  have  the  issue  clearly  drawn  between  those  who 
insist  upon  rigid  standards  and  strict  adherence  thereto,  and  those 
who  have  no  standard  so  fixed  that  the  individual  welfare  of  the 
pupils  must  suffer  in  consequence.  Of  course,  the  issue  will  turn 
about  how  far  the  flexible  standard  is  used  in  opening  the  door  for 
all  to  enter  the  high  school,  and  how  far  the  rigid  requirement 
acts  as  a  barrier  to  many  who  would  otherwise  enter.  No  one 
can  fail  to  see,  however,  that  Dr.  Spaulding's  statement  signalizes 
radical  departure  from  a  condition  that  exists  in  too  many  school 
systems,  to-day.  Surely  the  Transfer  Classes  may  be  looked 
upon  as  one  of  the  '^  educational  life-saving  stations  "  which  the 
ehmination  of  too  many  pupils  from  school  without  even  a  com- 
pleted elementary  education  shows  that  we  greatly  need. 

In  1913,  in  a  foreword  to  a  pamphlet,  A  Novel  Experiment^ 
by  Miss  Laselle,  Dr.  Spaulding  reaffirmed,  in  even  stronger  terms, 
his  belief  in  the  Transfer  Class,  when  he  said,  "  Every  boy  and 
girl  of  high  school  age  belongs  in  the  high  school  regardless  of  the 
completion  of  a  grammar  school  course.  It  is  the  function  of  the 
high  school  to  welcome  every  such  boy  and  girl  and  to  adapt 
subject-matter,  methods  and  organization  to  the  needs  of  such 
boys  and  girls.     The  only  conditions  of  admission  to  the  high 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  ii 

school  and  of  retention  therein  to  be  imposed  upon  the  young 
person  of  high  school  age  are  that  such  young  person  be  educable 
and  that  he  try  according  to  his  abihty." 

Based,  as  it  is,  on  seven  years  of  trial  and  observation,  this 
statement  may  well  arrest  the  attention  of  others  seeking  to 
remedy  a  condition  that  has  made  of  our  schools  a  veritable 
burial  ground  of  the  hopes  and  ambitions  of  many  parents  and 
pupils.  The  sweeping  statement  that  the  school  should  receive 
all  such  persons  and  adapt  subject-matter,  methods,  and  organi- 
zation to  their  needs,  need  not  deter  any  one  from  trying  the  plan 
on  the  ground  that  it  is  not  practicable.  Transfer  Classes  in  the 
Newton  schools  are  not  theory;  they  are  practice.  In  a  sur- 
prisingly simple  and  effective  way  they  are  accomplishing  what 
many  might  say  cannot  be  accomplished  on  account  of  adminis- 
trative difficulties. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  study  to  show,  so  far  as  possible, 
how  this  plan  has  justified  itself.  Evidence  of  success  has 
not  been  lacking  owing  to  two  studies  made  by  Miss  Laselle 
and  Mr.  C.  W.  Waldron  of  the  faculty  of  the  Newton  Technical 
High  School.  Their  work  has  been  freely  drawn  upon  by  the 
present  writer  in  preparing  the  history  of  those  pupils  trans- 
ferred to  the  Technical  High  School. 

Ill 

As  has  been  indicated,  the  transfer  idea  originated  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Newton  High  School,  and  it  is  to  the  pupils  trans- 
ferred to  that  school  that  we  shall-  first  turn  our  attention.  We 
shall  present  a  somewhat  detailed  discussion  of  what  these  pupils 
actually  did  under  the  provision  admitting  them  to  the  high 
school  without  regular  promotion. 

In  order  to  secure  some  basis  of  judging  the  value  of  their  work, 
it  was  determined  to  take  the  pupils  of  four  transfer  or  certificate 
groups,  1906,  1907,  1908,  1909,  and  to  compare  them  with  a  class 
regularly  promoted.  This  served  the  further  purpose  of  enabling 
us  to  form  some  notion  of  the  way  in  which  the  Newton  High 


12  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

School  was  grading  its  pupils,  adapting  its  work  to  them,  and  how 
it  was  meeting  the  problem  of  elimination.  The  class  of  191 2 
was  taken  for  this  purpose,  owing  to  the  fact  that  it  was  the  last 
class  having  nine  years  in  the  elementary  school.  Nine  years  was 
also  the  amount  of  preparation  of  practically  all  of  the  certificate 
pupils.^ 

Numerically,  then,  we  had  the  following  conditions  to  deal 
with  in  making  the  study  in  the  Newton  High  School:  trans- 
ferred in  1906,  22  boys  and  7  girls;  transferred  in  1907,  7  boys 
and  II  girls;  transferred  in  1908,  7  boys  and  9  girls;  transferred 
in  1909,  3  boys  and  4  girls  (the  small  class  in  1909  was  due  to  the 
opening  of  the  Technical  High  School),  giving  a  total  of  39  boys 
and  38  girls  as  the  basis  of  this  part  of  the  study.  The  class  of 
191 2  showed  an  entering  enrolment  of  327  and  a  graduating  class 
of  220.  This  group  was  used  as  the  basis  of  comparison  for  the 
reasons  above  indicated. 

Among  the  most  pressing  problems  of  secondary  school  admin- 
istration is  that  of  grading;  in  this  field  some  of  the  most  inter- 
esting and  profitable  studies  have  been  made.  It  seemed 
advisable,  therefore,  to  determine,  not  the  accuracy  of  the  grading, 
but  the  distribution  of  the  grades  in  the  two  groups  of  pupils  under 
consideration.  This  furnished,  at  once,  a  definite  method  of 
comparison,  owing  to  the  fact  that  both  groups  —  the  certificate 
pupils  and  the  class  of  191 2  —  did  the  same  work  under  the  same 
conditions.  Accordingly,  a  tabulation  of  all  grades,  and  their 
distribution  in  groups  of  five,  extending  from  35  per  cent  to  100 
per  cent,  was  made.  Tables  showing  this  tabulation  will  be 
found  on  the  following  pages. 

^  "  Certificate  pupils  "  in  this  paper  always  means  the  classes  transferred  to  the 
Newton  High  School  with  immediate  entrance  on  high  school  work. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


13 


Table  I 

Table  Showing  Grade  ^  Totals  for  each  Group  in  Distribution  for  each 
Year,  Class  of  191 2  and  Pupils  Transferred  to  Newton  High 
School  in  1906-07-08-09. 

Certificate  Transfers  ^ 


Grade  Distri- 
bution Groups 

35- 
40 

41- 
45 

46- 
50 

51- 
55 

56- 
60 

61- 
6S 

66- 
70 

71- 
75 

t 

81- 
85 

86- 
90 

91- 
95 

96- 
100 

Total 
Grades 

Yr 

Class  191 2 
Tratisfer 

I 

8 
J3 

7 
16 

13 
23 

30 
32 

72 
52 

157 
54 

244 
53 

309 
57 

389 
32 

174 
^5 

100 
3 

23 
0 

3 
0 

1529 
350 

Class  191 2 
Transfer 

2 

7 

0 
4 

6 
9 

18 
26 

29 
35 

97 
42 

147 
42 

216 
34 

186 
j<5 

148 

85 
5 

44 
0 

4 

I 

987 
225 

Class  191 2 
Transfer 

3 

0 
3 

0 
6 

I 
3 

18 
10 

3^ 
P 

91 
Id 

118 

45 

154 
35 

147 
34 

no 
15 

67 

72 

29 
3 

4 

770 

Ip2 

Class  1912 
Transfer 

4 

3 
0 

1 

2 

0 
0 

4 
5 

22 
5 

68 

20 

114 

161 
16 

127 
5 

95 

4 

53 
4 

23 

9 
0 

680 

73 

Total  grades 
each  group 

18 
13 

8 
16 

20 
23 

70 
32 

154 
52 

413 

54 

623 
53 

840 
57 

849 

32 

527 
15 

305 
3 

119 
0 

20 
0 

3966 
840 

1  The  word  grade  as  used  throughout  this  investigation  refers  to  the  mark  given  for  a  year  or  a  half- 
year  of  work  in  any  subject. 

2  See  Tables  II  and  III  for  per  cent  of  grades  in  each  group. 


Table  II 

Per  Cent  of  Grades  in  each  Group  for  each  Year^ 

Certificate  Pupils  and  Class  of  IQ12,  Newton  High  School 


Grade 

35-50 

51-55 

56-60 

61-65 

66-70 

71-75 

76-80 

81-8S 

86-90 

91-95 

96-100 

Yr 

Class  1912 

4 

.6 

.6 

3-2 

10. 

16.7 

23.7 

18.7 

14. 

7.8 

3.3 

1-3 

Transfer 

4 

2.8 

4.1 

d.p 

27.7 

18.1 

22.2 

7. 

5.5 

4.1 

1.4 

0. 

Class  191 2 

3 

.1 

2.3 

4- 

11.8 

15-3 

20.0 

19.1 

14-3 

8.7 

3-7 

•5 

Transfer 

3 

JO. 

4.9 

5.4 

235 

75.4 

17.3 

7-9 

<5.3 

7.d 

•5 

•5 

Class  191 2 

2 

1-3 

1.8 

2.9 

9.8 

14.9 

21.8 

18.8 

IS- 

8.6 

4.4 

.4 

Transfer 

2 

6.2 

//•5 

15-5 

18.7 

75.r 

J5J 

7./ 

4.4 

0 

0 

0 

Class  1912 

I 

1.8 

1.9 

4-7 

10.3 

iS-9 

20.2 

25-4 

II-3 

6.5 

1-5 

.2 

Transfer 

I 

14.8 

p.z 

74.5 

^5-4 

151 

16.3 

p.7 

4-3 

P 

.0 

.0 

J  It  will  be  noted  that  all  grades  in  distribution  groups  below  50  per  cent  are  combined  in  the  per- 
centage table. 


14 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


Table  III 
Per  Cent  Grades  in  each  Group  for  Four  Years 


Grade 

3S-SO 

si-ss 

s6-6o 

6i-6s 

66-70 

7I-7S 

76-80 

8i-8s 

86-go 

9I-9S 

96-100 

Class  igi2 
Transfer 

Yr 

4 
4 

i.i 
10.4 

1.8 
8.3 

39 

I2.Q 

12.7 
IQ.2 

IS.7 
17- 

20.2 

21.4 
8. 

12.3 
4.9 

7-7 
1.7 

3- 
.24 

•5 
.24 

One  must  keep  in  mind,  while  studying  the  results  set  forth  in 
the  foregoing  tables,  that  we  have  here  a  comparison  between 
what  might  be  regarded  as  unquestioned  success  and  at  least 
partial  failure,  when  judged  by  the  same  standard.  Any  reason- 
able evidence  of  success  on  the  part  of  the  transfer  (certificate) 
pupils  must  be  seen  on  the  background  of  the  expected  success  of 
the  selected  group  who  made  up  the  class  of  191 2.  This  makes 
the  showing  of  the  certificate  pupils  all  the  more  creditable  on  the 
side  of  merit,  and  less  pointed  on  the  side  of  weakness  in  attain- 
ing the  higher  standard  of  the  other  group.  To  expect  the 
certificate  pupils  to  do  even  approximately  as  well  as  the  pupils 
regularly  promoted  would  be  to  look  for  a  condition  that  the 
transfer  idea  was  not  designed  to  create,  and  to  arouse  a  suspicion 
that  either  the  regular  pupils  were  receiving  too  Kttle  or  that  the 
certificate  pupils  were  being  credited  with  more  than  they  actu- 
ally accomplished.  To  say  the  least,  the  results  set  forth  in  the 
foregoing  tables  seem  to  warrant  the  assertion  that  the  certificate 
pupils  have  amply  met  what  might  be  expected  of  them,  and  so 
justified  the  wider  extension  of  the  plan  and  the  enthusiastic  sup- 
port of  those  responsible  for  its  execution. 

These  results  suggest,  further,  some  interesting  studies  of  grad- 
ing in  the  Newton  High  School  —  regular  classes  —  over  a  series 
of  years,  and  in  comparison  with  similar  distributions  of  grades 
from  other  schools.  All  such  studies  of  grades,  whether  of 
regular  or  special  classes,  serve  to  focus  attention  on  the  problem 
of  grading,  and  so  to  bring  it  nearer  the  scientific  condition  we 
would  have  it  attain. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  15 

The  general  tendency  shown  in  the  tables  to  higher  grading  in 
the  regular  class  is  what  we  might  anticipate,  although  one  is  not 
a  little  surprised  to  see  the  comparatively  high  percentage  of 
grades  of  the  certificate  pupils  in  the  higher  groups.  A  prepon- 
derance of  lower  grades  is  the  rule  for  the  certificate  pupils, 
though  not  to  a  degree  that  indicates  on  the  part  of  these  pupils 
the  lack  of  power  to  succeed.  The  high  percentage  in  the  first  dis- 
tribution group  is  due  to  the  grouping  of  all  grades  below  50  per 
cent;  the  table  really  becomes  more  significant,  poses,  with  the- 
second  distribution  group.  The  general  tendency  to  normal 
distribution  in  the  class  of  191 2,  and  the  equally  general  lack  of 
normal  distribution  in  the  transfer  class,  is  what  we  might  expect 
in  view  of  the  nature  of  the  two  groups  under  consideration. 

Elimination 

A  second  vital  and  interesting  aspect  of  the  Transfer  Classes  is 
the  extent  to  which  the  pupils  leave  school  without  being  grad- 
uated. One  naturally  asks  the  question,  when  considering  the 
Transfer  Classes :  How  far  does  this  plan  succeed  in  holding  the 
pupils  in  school  ?  It  must  be  remembered  that  practically  all 
of  the  transferred  pupils  would  have  left  school  as  soon  as  they 
were  released  by  the  compulsory  attendance  law,  and  because 
they  had  failed  to  secure  promotion  —  usually  after  repeating  the 
work  in  the  eighth  and  other  grades.  Interesting  and  surprising 
results  are  set  forth  in  the  tables  on  the  following  pages. 

Among  the  striking  features  brought  out  by  the  study  of  elim- 
ination are  the  following:  (a)  the  high  per  cent  of  pupils  of  the 
class  of  191 2  remaining  at  the  end  of  each  year  and  for  graduation; 
(b)  the  highly  favorable  showing  made  by  the  transfer  pupils  when 
compared  with  the  studies  set  forth  on  pages  16  and  17.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  the  per  cent  of  those  completing  the  full  four 
years  in  the  Newton  High  School,  class  of  191 2,  is  almost  double 
that  for  any  of  the  four  studies  shown;  and  that  the  per  cent  of 
the  certificate  group  completing  the  full  four  years  is  as  high  as 
the  average  for  the  four  studies.  Surely  this  is  enough  to  direct 
attention  to  the  merits  of  this  plan. 


1 6  HARVARD-NEWTON   BULLETIN 


Table  IV 

Tables  Showing  Initial  Enrolment  and  Per  Cent  Thereof  Remaining 
AT  the  End  of  Each  Year  and  at  Graduation  for  Class  of  191 2 
and  the  Transfer  Pupils  to  Newton  High  School. 

Total  number  enrolled,  Class  of  191 2,  Sept.,  1908    327 

Number  remaining  at  end  of  first      year,  June  1909 285  %  remain.  87.1 

"     «    "   second    «        "     1910 277%       «       84.7 

"     "    "   third       «        "     1911 249%       "       76.1 

"     "    "   fourth     "        «     1912 231%       «       70.6 

Nimaber  graduated,  June,  191 2  220%  grad.      67.3 

Total  number  transferred  to  Newton  High  School  by  certificate  for  years  1906- 

07-08-09 77 

Number  remaining  at  end  of  first      year 67  %  remain.  87. 

«     «    "second    "      49%       "       63.6 

u       a     u    ^jjij.^         «       ^^^^         u         ^j 

«       u      «    fQyj.^ij       «        29%  «  37.8 

Number  graduated  in  four  years 22  %  grad.      28.6 


Tables  Showing  Distribution  of  Pupils  in  the  Public  High  Schools 
OF  the  United  States 

Table  V 

Year       '  i  2  3  4 

Per  cent 100  63  44  30 

According  to  Thorndike,  Bulletin  No.  4,  1907,  p.  11,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education. 


Table  VI 

Year  i  2  3  4 

Per  cent 100  48  35  25 

According  to  Ayres,  Laggards  in  Our  Schools,  p.  57. 


Table  VII 

Year  1234  Graduated 

Percent  ...loo  65.3  42.9  32.4  31.4 

According  to  statistics  compiled  by  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  22, 
191 2,  pp.  9,  19.     8960  schools  reported. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  17 


Table  VIII 

Year 

Year  in 

High  School 

1907-08 

1908-09 

1909-10 

1910-11 

I 

100% 

100% 

100% 

100% 

2 

62.8 

62.1 

63.2 

62.S 

3 

41.3 

41.2 

41.6 

42. 

4 

27.1 

27.8 

28.4 

29.2 

Schools  Reporting 

8960 

9317 

10313 

10234 

According  to  figures  compiled  by  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education,  Bulletin  No.  22, 
p.  9. 

Note.  —  No  comparison  of  these  and  the  preceding  elimination  tables  is  possible, 
other  than  on  a  general  basis,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  above  figures  deal  with  the 
per  cent  remaining  at  the  opening  of  each  year,  while  those  for  the  Newton  High 
School  show  the  per  cent  remaining  at  the  end  of  each  year.  However,  the  general 
tendency  is  well  set  forth  by  the  above  tables. 

Quality  of  Work  done  by  Transfer  Pupils 

In  addition  to  the  problem  of  grading  and  that  of  eKmination, 
such  a  study  naturally  suggests  an  investigation  into  the  kind  of 
work  these  pupils  do,  and  the  degree  of  success  they  attain  in  the 
doing  it.  An  attempt  was  made,  therefore,  to  determine  what 
were  the  facts.  The  results  of  this  part  of  the  investigation  are 
set  forth  in  the  tables  given  below. 

It  must  be  kept  in  mind,  in  a  study  of  these  tables,  that 
no  special  provision  was  made  for  the  certificate  pupils  in  the 
Newton  High  School.  As  has  been  indicated,  they  were  obliged 
to  adjust  themselves  to  the  curriculum  and  organization  of 
the  school  as  they  found  it.  The  curriculum,  as  might  be 
expected  in  a  general  high  school,  tended  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  college  preparation,  and  gave  httle  opportunity  to 
meet  the  peculiar  needs  of  this  group  of  pupils.  Aside  from  a 
little  work  in  bookkeeping  and  food  preparation,  the  curriculum 
was  plainly  that  of  the  general  high  school  working  in  the  direc- 
tion of  "  general  culture  "  through,  to  be  sure,  a  somewhat  flexi- 
ble, yet  very  limited,  field  of  electives.  The  great  opportunity 
to  be  found  for  such  pupils  in  the  Technical  High  School  was  not 
yet  available.  One  is  not  at  all  surprised,  therefore,  to  see  high 
percentages  of  failure  in  French,  German,  Latin,  algebra,  and 


i8 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


even  English  and  history.  Pupils  who  are  unable  to  meet  a 
standard  requirement  in  the  work  of  the  elementary  schools  are 
not  apt  to  rise  to  the  occasion  in  such  subjects  as  those  just 
enumerated,  especially  when  no  attempt  is  made  to  adjust  these 
subjects  to  the  peculiar  needs  of  the  certificate  pupils.  (Chart 
No.  I  on  the  following  page  is  suggestive  in  this  connection; 
the  conclusion  is  obvious.) 

The  following  tables  and  charts  aim  to  set  forth  the  number  of 
units  (a  year's  work  in  a  subject)  taken  by  the  class  of  191 2  and 
the  certificate  pupils,  together  with  a  comparison  on  the  basis  of 
the  per  cent  of  work  passed  by  each  group. 

Tables  Showing  Number  of  Units  of  Subjects  taken  by  Class  of  191 2 
AND  Transfer  Pupils,  together  with  the  Number  of  Units  of 
Failure  and  the  Per  cent  of  Failure  in  Various  Subjects .1 

Table  IX 

Class  of  igi2 


Subject 

.2 

.S 

2 

s 
g 

1 

^ 

1 

I 

1 

1 

•c 

1 

1 

1 

1 

M 

s 

tL4 

0 

< 

0 

fL, 

« 

n 

a 

< 

PQ 

fa 

\M 

P< 

0 

Number  of  units  taken 

673 

584 

445 

328 

299 

250 

214 

208 

.„ 

83 

59 

53 

39 

37 

36 

31 

26 

Number  of  units  failure 

33 

29 

31 

14 

7 

14 

17 

II 

9 

3 

2 

2 

1 

0 

0 

0 

_  0 

Per  cent  of  failure 

5 

5 

7 

S 

2.4 

5-6 

8 

S.2 

71 

3.6 

3-4 

3.9 

2.9 

0 

0 

0 

0 

Table  X 
Certificate  Pupils  to  Newton  High  School 


bo 

>i 

bo 

Subject 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

^ 

1 

.S 

t 

J4 

b 

.a 
1 

1 

1 

a 

•c 

W 

X 

^ 

0 

< 

0 

Ph 

" 

m 

^ 

< 

PQ 

W 

n 

c/: 

^ 

Number  of  units  taken 

190 

164 

83 

21 

26 

49 

25 

41 

87 

41 

12 

21 

21 

41 

8 

7 

II 

Number  of  units  failure 

S8 

S3 

36 

8 

12 

21 

7 

12 

10 

4 

2 

3 

5 

9 

I 

2 

I 

Per  cent  of  failure 

31 

33 

43 

38 

43 

42 

28 

29 

12 

10 

17 

31 

24 

22 

12 

29 

9 

*  See  charts  I,  II,  III,  and  IV,  which  follow  immediately,  for  graphic  representation  of  the  above 


HARVARD-NEWTON 

BUT.T,ETIN 

1 

i 
1 

Physics 

Drawing 

Bookkeeping 

Chemistry 

Arithmetic 

Botany 

Latin 
German 
Algebra 
Geometry 

1 

1 

19 


en 


O         O         O         O         kjOjCajCkj^Cti 

OO         C/1 

M 

Ca 

-vj        tn 

^         > 

OO-f^-ONMM                               ON^i'                                                                                    H 

>-• 

r 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

4i- 

' 

o 

f 

g^ 

^ 

«< 

M 

—                                                        • 

8 

^ 

HI 

SJ 

^ 

o 

«r 

o 

S. 

^ 

o 

J? 

9P 

jr 

o 

to 

? 

O 

CaJ 

t^ 

o 

<^* 

o 

r* 

-Ji. 

g= 

8 

? 

Ji' 

g 

o 

-ti. 

g- 

s. 

Ca 

K» 

§ 

O 

g; 

P 

8 

o\ 

o 

-^ 

r 

o 

Chart  I.  —  Showing  number  of  units  taken  in  each  subject  by  class  of  191 2 
with  number  of  units  and  per  cent  of  failure  for  each  subject. 


^  Indicates  per  cent  of  total  work  in  each  subject  that  was  failure. 


20 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


C/3 

W 

o 

m 

^ 

*o 

13* 

V! 

00  K> 


g       ^ 


w 

> 

t-" 

O 

O 

^ 

s 

w 

a* 

I? 

0 

o 

2. 

3 

5' 

1 

5 

0 

0 

1 

i 

s 

1 

1 

1 

r5' 

n> 

1' 

K> 

M 

Oo 

KS 

4^ 

M 

M 

•f"- 

-1^ 

M 

U) 

4^ 

00 

00 

U> 

o 

M 

o 

K) 

C*4 

M 

bo 

Ci 

* 

' 

«o 

' 

■^ 

00 

di 

Cn 

W      0? 
5*       W 


Chast  II.  —  Units  of  work  in  each  subject  for  certificate  pupils  with  units  and 
per  cent  of  failure  in  each  subject. 

1  Indicates  per  cent  of  total  work  that  was  failure. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


21 


5     lo    IS     20    25    30    35    40    4S 


English 

History 
French 

Latin 

German 
Algebra 
Geometry 

- 

Physics 

Drawing 

Bookkeeping 

Chemistry 

Arithmetic 

Botany 

Heavy  Unes:  Certificate  pupils.  Newton  High  School.    Light  lines:  Class  of  1912. 

Chart  III.  —  Showing  per  cent  of  failure  of  total  work  taken  in  common 
subjects  by  class  of  191 2  and  certificate  pupils. 


22 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


^ 

O 

> 

M 

m 

W 

h:J 

O) 

O 

w 

w 

n 

s 

o 

3 

1 

5* 

55' 
O 

1. 

o* 

1 

i 

o 
p 

13 

t 

>      W      tJ 

3   e^    I- 

2.  (W 


bd 
§ 


C/3 

d 


•8 


Chart  IV.  —  Showing  per  cent  of  work  passed  in  each  subject  by  certificate 
pupils  to  Newton  High  School. 


'  Indicates  per  cent  of  work  passed.     (See  chart  II.) 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  23 

Noteworthy  features  of  these  results  are  the  low  per  cent  of 
failure  in  practically  all  subjects  in  the  class  of  191 2,  the  rela- 
tively high  per  cent  of  failure  on  the  part  of  the  certificate  pupils 
in  the  so-called  cultural  and  "  disciplinary  "  subjects,  and  the 
not  unfavorable  showing  made  by  these  same  pupils  in  other  than 
the  formal  subjects. 

It  might  be  of  interest  at  this  point  to  suggest  a  study  made  by 
Messrs.  C.  R.  Rounds  and  H.  B.  Kingsbury  ^  in  which,  among 
other  things,  they  seem  to  show  that  failure  in  high  school  Eng- 
lish (forty-six  schools  were  studied)  was  approximately  21  per 
cent,  and  for  high  school  mathematics,  approximately  24  per 
cent.  On  this  basis  the  5  per  cent  failure  in  English  and  the  6 
per  cent  (average)  failure  in  mathematics  for  the  class  of  191 2 
Newton  High  School  is  highly  favorable;  and  the  31  per  cent 
failure  in  English  and  the  34  per  cent  failure  in  mathematics  for 
the  certificate  pupils  is  not  without  some  reflection  of  credit  upon 
this  group. 

In  connection  with  the  foregoing  comparison,  it  must  be  kept 
in  mind  that  these  certificate  pupils  were  given  high  school  work 
immediately  upon  their  transfer  to  the  high  school,  and  that  this 
work  was  done  in  competition  with  their  fellows  who  had  come 
up  from  the  grammar  school  through  the  regular  channels  of  pro- 
motion. These  are  the  pupils  whom  we  are  accustomed  to  regard 
as  the  failures,  the  waste  product,  when  judged  by  our  elemen- 
tary school  standards  of  determining  advancement. 

Was  there  General  Tendency  in  the  School  to 
GIVE  Passing  Grades  ? 

Supplementary  to  the  comparative  study  of  grade  distribution 
in  the  class  of  191 2  and  the  transfer  pupils,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
determining  whether  the  low  per  cent  of  failure  in  the  class  of  191 2 
was  due  to  abnormal  grading  toward  the  passing  mark,  two  sub- 
jects, Latin  and  geometry  were  taken,  and  the  grades  distributed. 
The  results  of  this  part  of  the  investigation  are  as  follows; 

*  Do  Too  Many  Pupils  Fail  ?  School  Review,  November,  1913,  pp.  585-97, 


24  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

While  there  is  a  rapid  rise  in  the  distribution  curve  for  geom- 
etry in  the  first  group,  on  the  safe  side  of  the  passing  mark,  60 
per  cent,  and  while  49  per  cent  of  the  grades  are  in  the  groups  61 
-75,  with  the  mode  at  66-70,  with  a  rapid  fall  to  a  second  tend- 
ency to  group  about  a  mode  at  81-85,  it  can  scarcely  be  said 
that  the  whole  distribution  is  such  as  to  indicate  a  desire  to  pass 
pupils  even  though  the  majority  have  low  grades.  A  general 
tendency  to  lower  grades,  and  a  tendency  to  a  bi-modal  curve  is 
not  surprising  in  such  a  subject;  mathematical  ability  is  apt  to  be 
found  in  two  degrees  of  general  excellence. 

The  curve  for  Latin  is  almost  a  normal  distribution,  with  but 
II  per  cent  of  the  grades  in  the  first  group  beyond  the  passing 
mark,  as  compared  with  15.6  per  cent  in  the  same  group  for 
geometry.  The  mode  in  this  curve  lies  at  71-75,  or  one  step  be- 
yond the  mode  for  geometry.  In  this,  as  in  the  distribution  for 
geometry,  there  is  no  evidence  of  abnormally  low  grading  with  a 
tendency  to  pass  pupils. 

Age  at  Entrance 

Significant  in  any  study  of  this  kind  is  the  age  at  which  pupils 
enter  the  high  school,  either  as  transfers  or  pupils  regularly  ad- 
vanced. One  has  but  to  look  into  this  aspect  of  the  subject  to  see 
a  reflection  of  the  whole  problem  of  retardation  and  over-age  that 
is  causing  so  much  discussion.  When  one  finds,  in  an  entering 
class  of  327,  thirty-seven  pupils  under  fourteen  years  of  age,  with 
one  but  eleven,  and  forty-three  who  are  sixteen  or  over,  with  one 
eighteen  years  and  five  months  of  age,  he  reahzes  that  the  high 
school,  as  well  as  the  elementary  school,  has  wide  age- variation  to 
deal  with.  And  with  the  rapid  development  of  the  adolescent 
period  of  life,  this  variation  is  more  serious  in  the  high  school  than 
in  the  elementary  school. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  median  age  for  the  class  of 
191 2  was  fourteen  years  and  eleven  months,  or  about  where  it 
might  be  expected,  were  the  distribution  normal,  on  the  basis  of 
nine  years  in  the  elementary  school. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  25 

The  median  age  for  the  certificate  pupils  to  the  Newton  High 
School  was  fifteen  years  and  three  months. 

The  tables  which  follow  show  the  age  distribution  of  the  class 
of  191 2  and  the  certificate  pupils  to  the  Newton  High  School.  It 
is  clear  that  if  these  distributions  were  plotted  we  should  find 
that  the  curves  are  bi-modal,  with  a  decided  skewness  to  the 
right  for  the  transfer  pupils;  this  is  in  keeping  with  the  aim  of 
the  Transfer  Classes  —  the  caring  for  the  over-age  pupil  in  an 
environment  suited  to  his  best  interests.  This  adaptation  is 
further  emphasized  with  the  classes  transferred  to  the  Technical 
High  School,  considered  later  in  this  investigation. 

Tables  Showing  the  Age  Distribution  or  the  Class  of   191 2  and  the 
Certificate  Pupils  in  the  Newton  High  School. 

Table  XI 

Class  of  1912 

Age                                       Percent                     Age  Percent 

11:0-11:11  4  15:0-15:5 20.6 

12:0-12:5  i-i  15:6-15:11  13. 

12:6-12:11  8  16:0-16:5  6.8 

i3:«>-i3:5  5-  16:6-16:11  3.4 

13:6-13:11  6.9  17:0-17:5  3. 

14:0-14:5  19.4  17:6-17:11  2.3 

14:6-14:11  16.3  18:0-18:5 .8 

Median  age 14:11 

Table  XII 

Certificate  Pupils 

12:6-12:11    2.6  15:0-15:5      24. 

13:0-13:5     1-3  15:6-15:11    13.3 

13:6-13:11 6.6  16:0-16:5      18.7 

14:0-14:5      14.6  16:6-16:11    2.6 

i'4:6-i4:ii    12.  17:0-17:5      4. 

Median  age 15:3 

It  is  hoped  that  the  foregoing  discussion  of  the  Transfer  Classes 
in  their  origin  and  development  to  their  present  form,  in  the 
Newton  High  School  has  been  sufficiently  complete  to  demon- 
strate their  value  and  practicabihty.  As  has  been  indicated,  the 
Transfer  Classes  are  now  found  in  the  Technical  High  School; 


26  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

and  to  this  phase  of  the  movement  we  shall  turn  in  the  next  sec- 
tion. But  the  success  of  the  transfer  plan  in  the  Newton  High 
School  may  well  commend  some  such  arrangement  to  school 
authorities  elsewhere,  even  though  there  be  no  well-equipped 
technical  school  in  which  to  provide  the  most  favorable  condi- 
tions. Most  small  cities  and  towns  must  rest  content  with  the 
general  high  school  such  as  that  to  which  the  transfer  pupils  first 
came.  But  the  practicabiHty  of  the  plan  in  the  Newton  High 
School  should  —  with  such  freedom  of  election  and  readjustment 
as  modern  school  administration  can  make  in  almost  any  type  of 
school  —  enable  a  progressive  system  to  provide  Transfer  Classes 
for  over-age  pupils.  One  needs  but  refer  to  the  table  on  page  i6 
to  see  what  was  done  for  certificate  pupils  in  the  Newton  High 
School.  That  22  of  the  77  pupils  studied  should  have  gradu- 
ated —  one  of  them  with  honors  —  is  sufficient  warrant  that  a 
chance  to  succeed  is  all  that  is  needed  by  many  whom  we  have 
been  dismissing,  as  failures,  from  our  schools.  Reference  to 
the  tables  on  page  16  will  show  how  much  can  be  done  by  way 
of  making  a  high  school  education  possible,  where  sympathetic 
treatment  and  encouragement  are  added,  for  the  pupils  not  only 
of  Certificate  (Transfer)  Classes,  but  also  for  those  pupils  who 
are  regularly  promoted  —  and  this  on  the  basis  of  just  as  thor- 
ough a  standard  of  work  as  is  required  anjrwhere. 

IV 

Transfer  Classes  in  the  Technical  High  School 

In  order  to  find  some  basis  for  determining,  as  far  as  possible  in 
such  a  limited  survey,  the  efficiency  of  the  transfer  plan  in  the 
Technical  High  School,  the  investigation  was  extended  to  include 
a  t3^ical  group  of  transfer  pupils  in  this  school.  Two  classes,  the 
transfer  girls  and  the  transfer  boys  of  1910-11,  were  chosen.  No 
attempt  has  been  made  to  compare  them  with  a  typical  class 
regularly  promoted  to  the  Technical  High  School,  owing  to  the 
wide  diversity  of  courses  in  this  school,  and  the  great  freedom  of 
election  given  the  transfer  pupils.     Such  comparison  as  is  made 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


27 


is  with  the  certificate  pupils  in  the  Newton  High  School.  The 
two  classes  chosen,  fifty  girls  and  thirty-two  boys,  give  us  a  group 
of  about  the  same  size  as  the  group  studied  in  the  Newton  High 
School.     (This  group  was  made  up  of  seventy-seven  pupils.) 

Inasmuch  as  the  majority  of  the  transfer  pupils  in  the  Tech- 
nical High  School,  who  remain  for  a  high  school  course,  enter  the 
commercial  courses,  interesting  comparative  studies  might  be 
made,  between  the  transfer  pupils  in  these  courses  and  the  regular 
pupils  in  these  courses  over  a  series  of  years. 

The  management  of  the  Transfer  Classes  in  the  Technical  High 
School  was  different  from  the  management  of  the  Transfer 
Classes  in  the  Newton  High  School.  When  the  first  Transfer 
Classes  were  organized  in  the  Technical  High  School  (September, 
1 9 10)  a  special  teacher  and  a  separate  room  were  provided  for 
these  pupils.  Both  the  manner  in  which  this  was  done  and  the 
need  for  it  are  well  expressed  in  the  following  statement  of  Miss 
Laselle,  speaking  of  the  girls: 

They  were  given  a  large,  sunny  "  home  room,"  a  cooking  and  a  sewing 
laboratory  that  were  supplied  with  every  article  of  equipment  that  could 
possibly  be  required,  and  a  large,  well-lighted  room  for  work  in  design. 

The  segregation  of  the  class  was  an  important  element  in  the  success  of 
the  undertaking.  Many  of  the  pupils  were  of  the  self-effacing,  retiring  type 
of  pupil,  who,  in  a  mixed  class,  or  in  a  class  in  which  there  are  rapid  workers, 
is  almost  inevitably  thrust  into  the  background,  where  she  persists  in  re- 
maining, despite  the  earnest  endeavors  of  her  teachers.  With  no  large 
element  of  rapid,  of  accurate,  or  more  rapid  workers  to  make  them  timid, 
the  girls  developed  a  self-confidence,  and  an  ability  to  take  a  leading  part  in 
discussions  in  English  and  in  other  subjects  that  was  very  satisfactory,  and 
that  has  enabled  them  this  year  to  perform  work  in  the  regular  mixed  classes 
of  the  High  School  in  a  creditable  manner.^ 

This  plan  worked  so  well  that  a  return  to  it  is  now  contemplated 
in  the  class  for  boys  —  the  special  class  for  the  boys  was  aban- 
doned two  years  ago. 

To  be  sure,  the  teacher  is  the  one  great  element  in  the  success 
of  any  transfer,  or  segregated,  class.  Peculiarities  in  the  pupil 
must  be  met  with  an  insight  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  in  charge. 
In  this  respect,  Newton  has  been  most  fortunate  in  the  selection 

^  A  Novel  Experiment^  p.  9. 


28  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

of  "  transfer  teachers  ''  —  teachers  having  the  power  of  substitut- 
ing the  habit  of  success  for  the  bUghting  effects  of  repeated  failure. 

In  addition  to  the  special  room  and  teacher,  the  Transfer 
Classes  in  the  Technical  High  School  are  provided  with  a  curricu- 
lum and  a  method  of  adapting  its  content  to  them  that  are  in 
keeping  with  the  needs  and  abihties  of  the  pupils.  Reference  to 
tables  XIII  and  XIV  will  show  the  success  these  pupils  had  in 
doing  the  work. 

The  following  typical  programs  for  the  girls  and  boys  will  serve 
to  illustrate  the  adaptation  of  the  curriculum  to  the  pupils  of  the 
Transfer  Classes: 

Typical  Programs 
Girls: 

1.  Ten  periods  of  academic  work  per  week,  including  commercial 
geography,  hygiene,  household  accounts,  and  English. 

2.  Ten  periods  of  household  economics. 

3.  Four  periods  of  design. 

4.  One  period  of  physical  culture. 
Boys: 

1.  Ten  periods  of  academic  work  per  week,  including  English,  arithme- 
tic, civics,  elementary  science,  and  physiology  and  hygiene. 

2.  Ten  periods  of  shop-work. 

3.  Four  periods  of  mechanical  drawing. 

4.  One  period  of  physical  culture. 

The  above  are  not  to  be  regarded  as  fixed  programs  of  study; 
such  a  program  is  unknown  in  the  Transfer  Classes.  Mr.  Wal- 
dron,  who  had  charge  of  two  of  the  boys'  classes  says,  "  When  a 
boy  shows  a  keen  interest  in  any  department,  and  is  anxious  to 
put  in  more  than  the  required  time  in  that  department,  he  is  en- 
couraged to  do  so."  Rigid  programs  of  study,  together  with 
rigid  standards  of  attainment,  are  banished  from  the  Transfer 
Classes. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  loitering,  inefficient  work,  or 
mediocrity  are  encouraged  in  the  Transfer  Classes;  quite  the 
reverse  is  true.  These  pupils  have  come  to  an  environment  that 
does  not  demand  effort,  but  that  stimulates  it.  Failure  here,  due 
to  lack  of  effort,  is  visited  with  the  same  penalty  as  in  the  regular 
classes.     The  coveted  grammar  school  diploma,  which  is  awarded 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  29 

at  the  end  of  one,  sometimes  two  years  in  the  Transfer  Class,  is 
withheld  unless  the  pupil  has  earned  it.  But  once  the  diploma 
has  been  secured,  the  transfer  pupil  sees  the  barrier  to  his  further 
progress  in  the  school  removed,  and  he  may  now  enter  upon  any 
of  the  regular  courses  in  the  two  high  schools. 

How  far  the  transfer  pupils  are  successful  in  winning  a  gram- 
mar school  diploma  by  work  in  the  Transfer  Classes,  and  so  con- 
tinuing their  education,  may  be  seen  from  the  following  data  for 
the  two  classes  under  consideration  in  this  section: 

Girls  transferred,  September,  19 10: 

Number  transferred 50 

Number  remaining  one  year 45 

Number  receiving  grammar  school  diploma 35 

Number  returning  for  regular  work  in  high  school, 

September,  191 1 24 

Number  returning  for  second  year  in  high  school   ...  19 

Number  in  high  school  at  mid-year,  1914 10 

Boys  transferred,  September,  19 10: 

Number  transferred 32 

Number  remaining  one  year 21 

Number  receiving  grammar  school  diploma 19 

Number  returning  for  regular  work  in  high  school, 

September,  191 1 17 

Number  returning  for  second  year  in  high  school  ...  11 

Number  in  high  school  at  mid-year,  19 14 8 

The  foregoing  data  shows  that  of  the  82  pupils  making  up  the 
Transfer  Classes  in  1910-11,  66  remained  in  school  at  least 
another  year,  striving  to  earn  a  grammar  school  diploma,  and 
that  54  won  such  diploma;  that  41  of  those  winning  diplomas 
admitting  them  to  the  high  schools  entered  the  freshman  class  in 
September,  191 1 ;  that  30  returned  for  a  second  year's  work;  and 
that  18  were  in  school  at  mid-year,  19 14.  When  one  reflects  on 
the  fact  that  practically  all  of  these  pupils  would  have  left  school 
as  failures  before  having  completed  the  work  for  a  grammar  school 
diploma,  he  cannot  but  be  impressed  with  the  significance  of  the 
foregoing  data. 

How  significant  would  be  such  an  "  educational  life-saving 
station  "  generally  in  existence  in  the  pubKc  secondary  schools  of 


30  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

the  United  States  may  be  seen  from  the  following  estimate.  The 
foregoing  data  show  that  82  pupils  entered  the  Technical  High 
School  as  transfers  in  1910.  There  were  admitted  as  certificate 
pupils  to  the  Newton  High  School  for  the  same  year,  8  pupils, 
making  an  additional  high  school  enrolment  of  90.  The  enrol- 
ment, less  all  transfer  pupils,  for  entering  classes  to  the  Newton 
high  schools  for  19 10  was  445.  In  other  words,  the  first-year 
class  in  the  high  schools  was  increased  by  20.2  per  cent  through 
special  transfers.  The  total  first-year  enrolment  for  the  public 
high  schools  of  the  United  States  for  19 10- 11  (Bulletin  22,  191 2, 
p.  9,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Education)  was  421,335.  Had  this  total 
enrolment  been  increased  by  Transfer  Classes  to  the  same  extent 
as  in  Newton,  the  total  entering  enrolment  for  the  country  would 
have  been  larger  by  85,1 10  for  the  year  1910-1 1.  If,  then,  such  a 
large  number  of  pupils  find  the  door  to  further  education  closed 
on  account  of  the  absence  of  any  special  means  of  caring  for  their 
special  needs,  it  would  seem  that  we  are  remiss  in  our  duty  unless 
we  make  some  such  provision  —  Transfer  Class  or  other  means  — 
for  taking  care  of  these  thousands  whom  we  lose  annually. 

Of  interest  in  connection  with  the  statistics  concerning  reten- 
tion in  school,  are  data  regarding  the  courses  selected  by  these 
pupils.  It  will  be  noted  that  these  courses  are  almost  entirely 
vocational.  It  should  be  said  here  that  no  course  is  chosen  with- 
out guidance  from  the  transfer  teacher  and  others.  Special 
lectures  by  outside  speakers  were  held,  from  time  to  time  for  the 
purpose  of  giving  information  on  the  various  vocations  open  to 
girls  and  boys  with  such  training  as  these  pupils  would  be  able  to 
secure.  With  this  preparation  and  advice,  the  courses  entered 
upon  by  the  41  pupils  returning  to  the  high  schools  were  as  fol- 
lows: 

Girls  (1911-12): 

General  Course,  Newton  High  School 2 

Extra-Technical  (Vocational)  Course      6 

Fine  Arts  Course i 

Commercial  Course  (Clerical)  ^ 15 

1  A  distinction  is  made  in  the  commercial  courses  between  training  for  clerical 
work  and  training  for  business. 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  31 

Boys  (1911-12): 

Technical  Course 2 

Extra-Technical 2 

Technology-College  Course 2 

Commercial  (Clerical)  Course 7 

Commercial  (Competitive)  Course 3 

Special  Course      i 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  the  work  in  these  courses  was  done 
after  the  pupils  entered  the  high  school,  and  in  competition  with 
those  who  had  come  in  through  the  regular  channels  of  promo- 
tion. The  grades  of  the  forty-one  who  entered  the  high  schools 
in  September,  191 1,  with  those  who  are  now  in  school,  will  be 
found  distributed  in  tables  XIII  and  XIV.  All  the  grades  won  by 
all  the  pupils  for  whatever  time  they  remained  have  been  in- 
cluded in  this  distribution.  For  reasons  before  given,  no  group 
of  Technical  High  School  pupils  is  used  in  the  comparative  study 
of  grades.  (A  suggestion  for  a  study  of  this  kind  has  already 
been  made.) 

Tables  Showing  Distribution  of  Grades  for  82  Pupils  Transferred  to 
Technical  High  School,  September,  19 10.  (Two  and  one-half  years' 
work  included.) 

Table  XIII 

Number  of  grades  in  each  group 


Grade  Distri- 
bution Groups 

35- 
40 

41- 

4S 

46- 

So 

si- 
ss 

60 

61- 
6S 

66- 

70 

71- 

75 

76- 
80 

81- 

85 

86- 
90 

91- 
95 

96- 
100 

To- 
tal 

Yr 

Freshman 

I 

4 

0 

4 

2 

17 

26 

48 

67 

36 

II 

9 

0 

0 

224 

Sophomore 

2 

2 

I 

I 

6 

13 

29 

35 

36 

16 

9 

6 

I 

0 

155 

Junior  to  mid-year 

3 

4 

4 

2 

2 

8 

n 

22 

14 

II 

5 

8 

2 

0 

93 

Total  each  group 

2\ 

ID 

5 

7 

ID 

38 

66 

105 

117 

63 

25 

23 

3 

0 

472 

32 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 


Table  XIV 
Per  cent  of  grades  in  each  group 


Grade  Distri- 
bution Groups 

35- 
40 

41- 
45 

46- 
50 

51- 
55 

t 

61- 
65 

66- 

70 

71- 

75 

t 

81- 

86- 
90 

91- 
95 

96- 
100 

To- 
tal 

Yr 

Freshman 

I 

0 

0 

3-5 

I. 

7-9 

II. I 

21.4 

30. 

16. 

5- 

4. 

0 

0 

0 

Sophomore 

2 

0 

0 

2.6 

3.8 

8.3 

18.7 

22.6 

23.2 

10. 

5.8 

3-9 

•7 

0 

0. 

Junior  to  mid-year 

3 

0 

0 

10.7 

2.1 

8.6 

11.8 

23.6 

15. 

ii.g 

5-4 

8.6 

2.1 

0 

0 

For  2  J  years 

0 

0 

51 

2.1 

8. 

14. 

22.2 

24.8 

13-4 

5.5 

51 

.7 

0 

0 

As  might  be  expected,  the  grades  for  the  Transfer  Classes  in  the 
Technical  High  School  are  higher  than  for  the  corresponding 
years  in  the  Newton  High  School.  The  type  of  pupil  whom  the 
Transfer  Class  aims  to  assist  is  not  attracted  by,  or  able  to  pursue 
successfully,  the  usual  curriculum  of  a  general  high  school.  That 
they  are  capable  of  doing,  with  no  little  success,  work  of  a  more 
vocational  type  is  evidenced  by  the  improvement  in  grades,  as 
well  as  the  lower  per  cent  of  failure  in  work  undertaken. 

It  is  probable  that  the  two  classes  studied  in  the  Technical 
High  School  are  superior  to  subsequent  classes,  owing  to  the  fact 
that  none  were  transferred  from  grades  below  the  eighth  grade. 
Transfers  are  now  made  from  all  pupils  between  fourteen  and  a 
half  and  fifteen  years  of  age  in  grades  as  low  as  the  sixth  grade. 
The  average  age  of  the  girls  in  the  class  entering  in  19 10  was 
fifteen  years  and  eight  months,  and  of  the  boys  for  the  same  year 
fifteen  years  and  six  months.  Further  investigation  will  be  in- 
teresting in  determining  the  relative  standing  of  the  transfers  from 
the  lower  grades  as  compared  with  the  earHer  transfers  from  the 
eighth  grade,  alone. 

Since  Transfer  Classes  began  about  three  hundred  and  fifty 
pupils  have  thus  been  given  the  incentive  to  further  work  in  the 
Newton  schools,  and  at  an  annual  cost  of  about  $10,000.  How 
far  these  pupils  justified  this  expense  is,  of  course,  not  wholly 
determinable;  but  the  foregoing  study  of  the  work  done  by  some 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  33 

of  them,  and  the  increasing  faith  in  Transfer  Classes  by  the 
teachers  and  officials  of  the  schools  seem  to  warrant  the  belief 
that  the  effort  and  money  were  well  expended.  That  many  of 
these  pupils  did  not  attain  the  standard  of  regularly  promoted 
pupils  is  far  less  important  than  the  fact  that  many  did  achieve  a 
standard  that  made  reasonable  success,  and  not  a  sense  of  failure, 
their  possession  at  the  threshold  of  life's  responsibilities.  The 
transfer  pupil  is  not  less  worthy  of  an  opportunity  to  succeed  than 
is  the  pupil  who  regularly  makes  promotion  to  the  high  school. 
All  that  should  be  demanded  is  that  he  be  educable,  and  that 
he  strive  to  make  the  most  of  the  ability  he  has. 

In  the  course  of  the  discussion,  some  opinions  have  been  ex- 
pressed. It  may  now  be  well  to  summarize  some  of  the  impres- 
sions one  gets  in  bringing  together  the  results  of  this  investiga- 
tion. How  far  these  opinions  are  valuable  will,  of  course,  be 
determined  in  the  light  of  what  this  study  has  brought  out,  and 
what  subsequent  study  of  Transfer  Classes  in  this,  and  other 
school  systems,  may  develop. 

In  the  first  place,  if  any  such  shattering  of  traditional  educa- 
tional machinery  is  contemplated,  there  must  be  a  superintendent 
and  staff  in  thorough  accord  on  the  probable  worth-while-ness  of 
the  plan.  Care  must  be  taken  when  setting  the  plan  in  operation, 
that  neither  pupils  nor  teachers  get  the  impression  that  transfer 
is  an  easy  way  to  shift  responsibility  for  poor  teaching,  or  for  lack 
of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  The  avoidance  of  anything 
savoring  of  an  easy  way  to  enter  the  high  school  is  fundamental 
to  the  operation  of  the  transfer  method  of  advancing  pupils. 

There  naturally  arises,  too,  the  question  of  grading  and  ad- 
vancing these  pupils  toward  graduation  from  the  high  school.  Is 
there  any  danger  of  Transfer  Classes  receiving  too  lax  treatment 
in  the  setting  up  of  standards  of  attainment  ?  In  Newton  this 
is  manifestly  not  the  case.  The  teacher  of  English  gave  as  her 
opinion  that  the  work  of  the  transfer  pupils  was  as  good  as  the 
average  of  the  class.  To  be  sure,  much  of  the  work  taken  by 
transfer  pupils  is  vocational,  but  success  in  this  is,  for  them,  far 
more  important  than  success  in  the  purely  academic  subjects. 


34  HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN 

As  a  corollary  to  the  foregoing  proposition,  there  is  the  oft- 
repeated,  modern  slogan  of  "  adapting  the  school  to  the  pupil.'' 
To  many  this  seems  more  easily  said  than  done.  We  must  edu- 
cate in  large  groups  in  our  rapidly  increasing  school  population. 
Although  this  is  true,  there  is  also  the  compelling  truth  that 
in  these  large  groups  we  find  pupils  of  the  type  cared  for  in  the 
Transfer  Class.  And  where  the  system  is  large  enough  to  pro- 
vide a  class  of  from  twenty  to  forty  of  each  sex,  there  seems  na" 
good  reason  why  the  school  should  be  excused  from  the  responsi- 
bility of  giving  these  pupils  that  which  most  of  them  can  other- 
wise never  secure,  even  in  evening  or  continuation  schools,  after 
the  need  for  it  is  seen  in  their  attempts  to  become  economically 
efficient.  Continuation  in  school,  through  the  medium  of  a 
Transfer  Class,  seems  infinitely  more  valuable  for  the  boy  or  girl 
too  young  to  enter  skilled  industry,  than  the  resort  to  a  continua- 
tion school  after  he  has  blundered  through  the  usual  profitless 
occupations  to  which  the  unequipped  are  relegated.  The  great 
increase  in  private  business  schools,  correspondence  courses^ 
evening,  and  special  schools  is  but  an  indication  of  the  fact  that 
we  are  not  doing  our  full  duty  in  "  adapting  the  school  to  the 
pupil,"  particularly  the  pupil  who  cannot  be  measured  by  our 
arbitrary  standards. 

As  has  been  indicated,  every  school  system  has  pupils  of  the 
type  making  up  the  Transfer  Classes  in  the  Newton  schools. 
That  they  should  be  found  and  cared  for  is  pedagogically  and 
socially  important;  and  the  Transfer  Class  impresses  one  as 
being,  at  once,  a  practicable  and  efficient  method  of  accomplish- 
ing this  end. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  most  successful  work  with  transfer 
pupils  is  in  segregated  classes,  and  in  work  of  a  vocational  t3^e. 
This  statement  does  not  imply,  however,  that  segregation  should 
be  carried  beyond  the  one  or  two  years  required  to  win  the  gram- 
mar school  diploma,  or  that  the  work  should  be  narrowly  voca- 
tional. There  may  be  just  as  much  unwise  selection  in  too 
restricted  choice  of  vocational  work  as  there  is  in  a  too  general 
choice  of  the  traditional  subjects.     So  far  as  is  possible,  transfer 


HARVARD-NEWTON  BULLETIN  35. 

pupils  should  be  given  the  opportunity  to  determine  vocational 
adaptabilities  without  being  shunted  into  programs  of  study  that 
will  bar  them  from  the  richness  of  training  to  be  found  in  a  more 
widely  distributed  election.  Concentration  in  the  vocational 
courses  will  doubtless  be  the  rule  for  transfer  pupils,  but  with  it 
should  go  such  distribution  as  will  give  the  wider  outlook  that  the 
artisan,  as  well  as  the  professional  man,  needs. 

That  vocational  guidance,  freer  election  of  subjects,  and  greater 
adaptation  of  work  to  the  peculiar  needs  of  the  pupils  have  suc- 
ceeded in  the  conduct  of  the  Transfer  Classes  in  the  Technical 
High  School,  is  at  once  apparent  when  one  recalls  that  these 
pupils  show  a  higher  distribution  of  grades  than  do  the  certificate 
pupils  in  the  Newton  High  School;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the 
fact  that  none  of  the  certificate  pupils  were  transferred  from 
below  the  eighth  grade,  while  many  of  the  transfer  pupils  in  the 
Technical  High  School  came  from  grades  six  and  seven.  The 
certificate  pupils,  some  of  whom  are  yet  coming  to  the  Newton 
High  School,  were,  and  are,  a  distinctly  stronger  group  than 
the  transfer  pupils  in  the  Technical  High  School.  However, 
the  transfer  plan  succeeded  under  less  favorable  conditions  in  the 
Newton  High  School,  and  with  less  capable  pupils,  to  an  even 
greater  degree,  in  the  Technical  High  School. 

Follow-up  work  should  be  a  part  of  the  duty  of  those  in  charge 
of  Transfer  Classes.  A  study  of  this  phase  of  the  movement 
will  be  possible  owing  to  the  work  done  by  Miss  Laselle  and 
the  complete  records  kept  in  the  Commercial  department  of  the 
Technical  High  School  —  the  department  to  which  most  of  the 
transfer  pupils  go  for  regular  high  school  work. 


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